


Trapped With You

by Kivea



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - IKEA, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Humour, M/M, Meet-Cute, They get trapped in IKEA together, romcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 22:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12177939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivea/pseuds/Kivea
Summary: Lance looked over his shoulder, raising a brow. ‘You want my help getting out?’‘Well that’s what you’re going to do, right? Find a way out?’‘Uh, no?’What?Lance finally stopped and turned to face him fully. ‘I don’t know if it’s come to your attention, but we’re trapped in IKEA. No staff around. No crying children. No annoying parents. Just us and the whole store.’





	Trapped With You

It was something he’d only dreamt of in his wildest fantasies. Something everyone had thought of before, what it would be like to have free reign of such a magical place at such a magical time of night, no one else around to bother you. Just yourself and your imagination and countless wonderful things to explore. 

The reality was not nearly as magical as what Keith pictured it would be. Admittedly he never pictured very far beyond  _yeah that’d be pretty cool I guess_ , but the thought was still there. In reality the realisation of what was happening wasn’t followed by a rush of excitement but an overwhelming panic. 

He was trapped in IKEA and no one was around. 

He couldn’t say exactly how it had happened. He’d come in here to get away from that bitch Nyma because she was doing his head in and if he saw Rolo one more time he was going to actually punch the bloke in the face. After finding a safe place to hide out for a little while he sat on his phone and scrolled through social media pages and blogs to his hearts content until he eventually realised it had gone strangely quiet and also dark. 

He had to use the flashlight on his phone. It looked a lot different when no one else was around. A lot different in the dark. 

He didn’t want to ring Shiro and explain what had happened. The older man would do that awkward thing where he was torn between playing dad and also laughing at the situation. If he could get out here on his own he would. He had always been independent. How hard could it be? 

Very hard. 

It was half nine by the time he’d resigned himself to being trapped here. He fired a text to Shiro to tell him he wouldn’t be home that night before he began to wander the rooms looking a little lost. Feeling a lot lost. 

‘I’d recognise that mullet anywhere.’ 

He spun round at the voice, instantly on guard. The light in the room came on and he grimaced as his eyes adjusted. The owner of the voice stood between the desks and office chairs, hands planted firmly on his hips and a scowl decorating his tanned face. The brunette was vaguely familiar, but from where Keith just couldn’t place. 

‘Who are you?’ 

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say. Mr Tall Dark and Mysterious gave an offended gasp and threw his arms in the air, frown deepening. ‘Who?! I’m Lance! We go to the same college? You’re in my core biology class. Or at least you  _were_ until you got a disciplinary and moved to a different class for punching a Professor.’ 

‘I didn’t punch a Professor,’ Keith clarified. ‘I punched his son.’ 

‘You punched his son?’ 

Keith shrugged. Pretty much. 

Lance shook his head and muttered something that Keith couldn’t understand before he turned on his heel and began storming off. ‘Whatever, I’m going. No point hanging around Mr High and Mighty.  _“who are you”_ , the cheek of it!’ 

‘Hey, wait!’ Keith’s feet carried him forward as he chased after the taller boy. ‘How do we get out?’ 

‘Oh, so you want my help now?’ 

‘Yes!’ Keith felt irritation bubbling in his chest. He had to try remain calm. Patience. ‘I would like your help. Please.’ 

Lance looked over his shoulder, raising a brow. ‘You want my help getting out?’ 

‘Well that’s what you’re going to do, right? Find a way out?’ 

‘Uh, no?’ 

_What?_

Lance finally stopped and turned to face him fully. ‘I don’t know if it’s come to your attention, but we’re trapped in  _IKEA_. No staff around. No crying children. No annoying parents. Just us and the whole store.’ 

‘I’m aware.’ 

‘And you want to try get out?’ 

‘Yes! I want to go home and go to bed eventually.’ 

Lance shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘I was kinda planning on just picking a bed and sleeping in it if I’m honest. Maybe go to one of those little single apartment things they have set up? What’s a better way deciding which house is best for you than  _first hand experience_?’ 

It was what everyone  _said_ they would do if it happened. But Lance was so cool and easy about it, like this was a regular occurrence. Keith narrowed his eyes and decided to check. ‘Have you done this before?’ 

‘What, get trapped in IKEA over night?’ Lance shook his head slowly. ‘Oh, ye of little faith. This has  _never_ happened to me.’ 

‘Oh.’ 

‘Last time it was a sofa store.’ 

‘What?!’ 

Lance snorted. ‘I’m joking! Seriously, this is a new thing for me. I just…’ he shrugged again. ‘Guess I’m good at going with the flow?’ 

It made sense. He guessed. Lance seemed like the type to enjoy this from what he’d seen so far. Which was him enjoying the situation. 

‘So,’ Lance drawled. ‘You still want me to help you get out of here?’ 

‘Nah, I’ll…’ Keith glanced at his phone. It read 21:45. Too early for bed. ‘Entertain myself, I guess.’ 

‘Great. You have fun with that. I’ll be gathering the items I need to create the world’s biggest pillow fort in the sofa area, so you come find me if you discover your funny bone, yeah?’ 

And with that the brunette was gone, leaving Keith alone once again. 

He lasted ten minutes before the anger train hit. 

He  _totally_ had a funny bone. In a literal sense, obviously, because it was slang for a specific part of your body, but he realised (a bit belatedly) that Lance was referring to his sense of humour, which he did have, even if Pidge accused him of being a wet blanket sometimes. He was going to prove the point as well, because he wasn’t about to let this guy get away with getting mad at him for a simple mistake and then insult him in such a roundabout way. 

He entered the kid’s area, narrowing his eyes as he looked around. He knew what he needed, it was just figuring out a way to get it to the front of the store efficiently. 

* * *

It was fifteen minutes past ten by the time he joined Lance where the sofas were. Half an hour had passed and he was pretty proud of what he’d managed to accomplish in that time. He had a trolley full of IKEA bags that were packed to the brim, as well as four hanging from his arms. There were a couple of times where something escaped, but he’d managed to get it all pretty easily. It wasn’t hard to spot the other boy. 

He’d spent the half hour productively. Sofa’s had been moved and the mossy green jacket was tied round his waist. He’d made a large circle with the backs of the sofas and was gathering cushions and pillows from every possible close surface and throwing them in the centre of the sofa-pit. 

His entire being seemed to light up when he noticed Keith, a wide grin breaking across his face. 

‘Wow,’ he nodded appreciatively. ‘That’s some pretty impressive scavenging.’ 

‘Thanks,’ Keith finally stopped the trolley and picked up another stuffed animal that had fallen from one of the bags. ‘Am I missing anything?’ 

‘I guess we won’t find out until we start!’ Lance clapped his hands together. ‘Gimme them cuddlies!’ 

The pair emptied three bags full of soft toys into the pit before Lance jumped in and began to arrange them carefully, insisting that each one needed to be able to sit and talk to each other for best comfort. He tasked Keith with finding something to use as a frame to hold the bed sheets up seeing as the amount of pillows kind of made the pit a little too shallow, and it wasn’t long before he’d returned with a handful of umbrellas to lodge between the sofas and extend to provide the height. 

The pair pinned the bed sheets together and managed to cover every inch of space. It must’ve been half an hour of concentration and occasional comments until the trolley was empty and the fort was built. Keith was actually quite proud of himself as they surveyed the structure that was easily the same height as him, if not a tad taller. He hadn’t built a fort since he was tiny. 

‘It’s missing something.’ 

Keith felt his enthusiasm drop. ‘What do you mean? It’s a fort. What’s it missing?’ 

‘I dunno I feel like it’s missing some razzle dazzle.’ 

‘You make no sense.’ 

‘You don’t  _understand_ , Keith. Every fort needs a little razzle dazzle. Something to make it  _special_.’ 

‘It’s a fort. Blanket. Cushions. Somewhere comfy to sit.’ 

‘I thought I told you only to join me when you found your funny bone.’ 

Keith scowled, the statement throwing him for a spin. He caught on quicker this time as he remembered what the man was talking about. ‘I have a funny bone!’ 

‘Whatever,  _Mullet_ ,’ Lance grinned and finger gunned as he began to walk backwards. ‘Give me like five minutes. I’ll be back.’ 

Ten minutes. It took ten minutes for Lance to get back. Keith had given up waiting outside the fort and instead had settled himself inside, lying back across the cushioned floor and admiring their handiwork from the inside. It really was impressive. He took a quick photo and sent it to Pidge on his discord app as Lance tumbled into the fort. 

‘I got it!’ 

Keith raised a brow. It turned out to be a lampshade. 

‘I couldn’t find any actual lights that we could use that were on display, so I figured my phone light will have to do, but-look!’ Lance fumbled with his phone and the lampshade before settling them down on the cushions, grinning wide as it had the desired effect. ‘Stars!’ 

Keith looked. He looked at the subtle way that a blue wash took over the little space they’d created with tiny white dots from the gaps that made the stars. He was beginning to understand exactly what he’d meant by razzle dazzle. Maybe it wasn’t the most impressive lighting display he’d seen, but the sentiment of warm and fuzzy was enough to make up for it. 

‘Lance…’ he started as he raised a brow. ‘Did you poke holes in the lampshade?’ 

‘Only a couple. I improved it.’ 

‘Isn’t that vandalism?’ 

‘It was a display model. It’ll be fine, Mr Disciplinary.’ 

Keith smirked and positioned his phone to snap another picture of the boy wonder who was sat still grinning with a full set of white teeth and eyes that were roaming about and soaking up the space. 

Lance finally flopped down next to him, lying on his back with that stupid grin that made Keith’s stomach do funny things. It was really quite an attractive smile. 

‘See?’ Lance gestured upwards. ‘Now it has that  _something_.’ 

‘Alright, I’ll give you that one,’ Keith agreed. ‘It’s been a while since I built a fort.’ 

‘I have nieces and nephews. It comes with the territory of being Best Uncle.’ 

He snorted in an attempt to sound condescending, but he didn’t have any trouble imagining this man as being a good uncle. ‘Sure.’ 

‘Hey! I’m a great uncle don’t sound so sarcastic.’ 

‘Whoops, sorry.’ 

Lance picked up the closest pillow and smacked it into Keith’s stomach, who caught it on reflex. ‘I’ll show you sorry!’ 

‘A pillow fight? Really?’ 

‘Of course not. Forts are sacred, protected places, free of violence.’ 

‘You hit me first!’ 

‘I did not. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ 

Keith grasped hold of one of the stuffed animals and threw it at Lance’s face. 

‘I cannot believe!’ he flailed as he grasped the toy. ‘You would throw our son!’ 

‘You are crazy.’ 

‘I suppose you’re going to say you’ve forgotten him now too!’ Lance waved the crocodiles face at Keith. ‘Huh? Are you going to hurt him like you hurt me?!’ 

‘Yes.’ 

‘It’s like you get off on other people’s misery or something!’ 

‘I do.’ 

Lance dropped the toy and glared. ‘You cruel, unusual beast.’ 

Keith found himself drawing the crocodile closer to his chest. He was at a loss for words, unsure exactly how to make conversation with a person like Lance. A person so extroverted and enthusiastic and dramatic. He was used to Pidge. Used to Shiro and his comfortable silences. 

But when a soft smile graced Lance’s lips and a brow pulled up in amusement, Keith wasn’t sure he had too much to worry about. He gave a small smile of his own. 

Lance’s face dropped. His eyes widened. He shot into a sitting position. 

‘You know, I’m feeling a little restless. How about we go-and-uh-do something else?’ 

‘What?’ Keith scowled as he looked over at the back of Lance’s head. Just when he thought they were about to bond. 

‘We can come back here later or something come on!’ 

And the lanky boy was gone. Keith huffed before he pushed himself onto his hands and knees and clambered out the fort. 

* * *

‘In the red trolley, we have Mullet McMullet-face, known for his dark, broody, sour-sexy face.’ 

Keith snorted, trying not to let the embarrassment face and being very specific about what part of that sentence he paid attention to. ‘Mullet McMullet-face?’ 

‘And in the blue trolley!’ Lance completely ignored him. ‘We have his Royal Highness, Lancelot the Great, and the popular to win.’ 

‘Royal Highness? Really?’ 

Lance shot him a wink. ‘Hey, go big or go home, am I right?’ 

‘You can’t go home. We’re trapped.’ 

‘I guess I’m gonna have to go big then.’ 

Keith rolled his eyes. 

‘On your marks…’ 

He positioned his right foot behind the trolley, left one on the back already

‘Get set…’ 

He lowered his head and tightened the hands clutching the bar. 

‘Go!’ 

The pair gave three big kicks before they were sailing down the isle of the warehouse, head to head. Keith could see the end goal, isle 11, crouching further down as he got close. Stopping the trolley from veering off path was a bit tricky, but nothing his toned arms couldn’t handle. 

‘Shit!’ 

He glanced to his left to see Lance nearly smack straight into on of the flat-pack displays. It took a bit of work before his trolley was back on track. 

It was the perfect amount of time for Keith’s to take the lead. 

They began to run out of steam as they got close, and Lance began to push with is foot again. Keith did the same as soon as he heard it, losing a little more control over the steering but picking up speed like no tomorrow. 

‘This isn’t fair!’ Lance shouted from behind. ‘This is because you have better leg muscles!’ 

‘Eat shit,  _your highness_!’ 

Keith got to isle eleven first and slammed his foot down to stop himself veering off into the displays.

Lance was panting as they arrived, stumbling off his trolley and over to Keith with a look of fury. ‘I demand a rematch!’ he declared. ‘Best three out of five!’ 

‘Give it a rest,  _Lancelot_ ,’ Keith smirked up at the taller man and flipped him off. ‘You may be superior in the pillow fort department, but you can’t beat me in a race.’ 

Lance prodded a finger into his chest. ‘I’ll give you this one, Mullet. But only because I’m hungry.’ 

Keith finally spared a glance at his phone. A new text from Shiro acknowledging his lack of presence, and a message from Pidge mocking him. It was eleven o’clock. They’d spent more time than he thought they would messing about. 

‘Well, what time does this place open?’ 

‘I dunno, like eight o’clock?’ 

‘You have nine hours.’ 

Lance groaned. ‘I won’t last that long. I’ll waste away.’ 

Keith’s eyes flittered across the long limbs, slim waist, and defined face. ‘You’re certainly skinny enough.’ 

‘What’s that meant to mean?’ 

‘Do you even eat?’ 

‘Yes I eat!’ 

‘Not enough.’ 

Lance glared. ‘I eat plenty, thank you.’ 

‘It’s alright. You wear “possibly anorexic” pretty well.’ 

Lance’s cheeks darkened. ‘I’ll show you. I’m going to eat so many biscuits. Just you watch.’ 

‘What, do you plan on breaking into the kitchens and starting up the stoves?’ 

‘They have a little mini-supermarket,’ Lance suggested with a shrug. ‘They’ve got some pretty nice sweet things in there. So long as we leave the money for what we eat on the counter it won’t be a big deal, right?’ 

Keith raised a brow. 

‘What?’ 

‘You’ll desecrate the lampshades, but you won’t steal a chocolate bar?’ 

‘Hey! Those are two very different things, and I did not  _desecrate_ the lampshade, you’re totally exaggerating.’ 

‘No, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what you did.’ 

‘You are in no position to judge! You punched Professor Zarkon’s kid in the face!’ 

‘He had it coming.’ 

‘Oh really? What did he do?’ 

Keith pursed his lips and looked away. ‘Err, you know. He kinda just…was a jerk…’ 

‘Go on…?’ 

‘I got nothing. He was kind of a jerk to some random chick and I was in a bad mood.’ 

‘So you’re a hero now? A Knight in Shining Armour?’ 

‘I never said that,’ he scowled. ‘I just said he had it coming.’ 

Lance snorted and bumped his hip against Keith, catching him off guard and making him stumble. ‘Alright then, Prince Valiant. Let’s go have a midnight snack.’ 

‘It’s not midnight.’ 

‘Hello? Is this the fun police? Because that’s what it’s starting to sound like.’ 

He rolled his eyes and dropped it as he followed Lance towards where the mini supermarket was. He checked his phone to see a message from Shiro acknowledging he wouldn’t be home, and a reply from Pidge. She, unsurprisingly, mocked him for getting trapped in IKEA. He took a photo of Lance’s back, sending it across before typing out a response. 

 Pidge’s response is almost instantaneous. 

_So you’re the cute boy Lance is hanging out with._

His eyes widened as he reread the message. Once. Twice. Four times. 

‘Here we are! Score they’ve got those bags full of Diam bars.’ 

He nearly dropped his phone at Lance’s exclamation. 

‘You alright there, man?’ 

‘You know Pidge?’ 

It was the first thing response to had, without even thinking. Lance’s face grew dark and he narrowed his eyes that snapped down to the phone in his hands before back up to Keith’s face. ‘Whatever she’s said, it’s not true. Probably.’ 

Keith snorted. ‘Probably.’ 

‘What did she say?’ 

‘Just that you mentioned you were hanging out with me or something.’ 

‘Yeah, or something. She and Hunk asked if I was free to hang out. I said no- _wait_.’ 

He leant back as Lance got right up in his face. 

‘Did you tell her we were stuck?’ 

‘Maybe?’ 

Lance threw his arms wide in a dramatic gesture, bags of Diam bars falling to the floor. ‘I cannot believe! Betrayed! Unacceptable!’ 

‘Did you not?’ 

‘No! Of course I didn’t!’ Lance groaned and gripped his cheeks. ‘They’ll never let me live it down!’ 

‘She’s kind of used to my bullshit.’ 

‘Bullshit? This happens to you? Often?’ 

Keith smirked and shrugged, leaning into Lance’s personal space in order to grasp on of the bags of sweets from behind him. Lance pressed his arms to his sides to make himself melt into the wall. ‘I guess.’ 

‘Maybe it should’ve been me asking  _you_ if you’d ever been trapped here before.’ 

Keith turned and ripped the bag open, reaching a hand in to pick out a cinnamon swirl. He ignored the spluttering sounds of protest and demand for payment as he made his way back through the store. 

* * *

‘Dude this is intense.’ 

He popped another Diam bar into his mouth as his eyes trained on the scene in front of him. They were watching a period drama that Lance had, for some reason, stored on his phone. It was propped up on the coffee table of a living room set from one of the single bedroom apartments set out in IKEA’s show rooms. 

He watched as the delicate frame of Mary spoke on screen, her arms pressed to her sides. ‘You know, with her gloves like that and the way the lighting is, it kind of looks like she has no arms.’ 

‘ _Keith_.’ 

‘It does!’ 

‘That is  _not funny_.’ 

He scowled down at the grinning face beside him. ‘I wasn’t trying to be funny; I’m just stating a fact.’ 

‘Sure you were.’ 

The conversation continued on screen. There was dramatics and flair and suppressed romantic feelings. It had everything you could possibly want. 

He was admittedly getting really into it. Even if half the time he was just cracking jokes at the screen. 

But then the world was plunged into darkness. And by the world he meant the small screen on the coffee table. 

‘No!’ Lance shrieked, flailing in the air and knocking the bag onto the floor. ‘What happened?!’ 

‘I think your phone ran out of battery.’ 

‘I can’t believe it! I need to know what happened! I have to  _live it_.’ 

‘You can’t actually live it.’ 

‘Keith I am not here to deal with your sass right now. Do you have data on your phone?’ 

He narrowed his eyes. ‘I’m not wasting my data streaming Downton Abbey.’ 

‘But  _Mary_.’ 

‘But nothing.’ 

Lance made a strangled noise of frustration and collapsed into the couch cushions. Keith bit back the laughter threatening to spill forward at the undeniably adorable pout decorating the tanned face. ‘I’m so upset. I’ll never be able to sleep.’ 

‘I’m sure you’ll find a way.’ 

‘Your complete lack of sympathy is only making my pain and misery worse, I hope you know this.’ 

Keith let a rather malicious smirk spread across his face. ‘Good.’ 

Lance shot to his feet and pointed a finger down at the dark haired man. ‘There’s only one option! We have to act it out!’ 

‘…Excuse you?’ 

‘Come on, Keithy-boy! You heard me! Seeing as you’ve got the whole pasty-dark haired thing going on, you can be Mary, and as the taller, dashing, handsome male I’ll be Matthew.’ 

Keith snorted into his hand. ‘I dunno, I think you’ve got Mary’s dramatics pinned down.’ 

‘Mary is  _not_ dramatic. Her problems are real and valid.’ 

‘Whatever you say,  _dashing and handsome_.’ 

Keith reluctantly stood, though he honestly kind of wanted to see where this was going. ‘Fine. I’ll be Mary. What do you want me to do?’ 

He got zero guidance. Instead, Lance went  _straight in for the kill_. 

Keith flushed as Lance got down on one knee and grasped his hand, pressing the back of one hand to his forehead as he leant back and cried out in pain. ‘Oh, Mary! My dearest, sweetest Mary! If only you would open that dead, cold heart to me so that we may be able to save our crumbling family!’ 

‘Matthew,’ Keith drawled through his embarrassment. ‘You’re such an ass, please leave me alone.’ 

‘Wow, way to put your heart and soul into it.’ 

‘You said my heart was cold and dead. I’m playing the part.’ 

Lance pouted up at him but didn’t stop. ‘Can’t you see that I just want us to be happy? I would give you the world if I could!’ 

Keith’s voice picked up a bit of momentum. ‘I don’t know why considering I’m sure that you have more genuine, nicer girls out there who would love your attention, but you know, sure, dote on me I guess. Just do it in a different room.’ 

‘You’re the nicest girl I’ll ever meet,’ Lance pushed himself to his feet, clutching their hands between their chests as he stepped close, close enough that Keith could feel Lance’s breath dancing across his cheeks. ‘We may have had a rocky start, and perhaps I am not always the most…sympathetic. But these past few hou-weeks have been the happiest.’ 

Keith felt his heart stutter in his ribcage. He swallowed a lump in his throat as it formed, looking up into ocean pools. ‘I guess I was kind of a dick do you when we met.’ 

Lance began to laugh but quickly covered it with a cough and schooled his expression. 

A smile tugged at the corners of Keith’s mouth. ‘But I’ve enjoyed our time together too.’ 

Blue eyes lit up in a way that distinctly reminded him of Christmas. ‘Really?’ 

‘Really,’ Keith confirmed. ‘I guess there’s more to you than just a pretty face.’ 

‘ _Handsome_.’ 

‘That one.’ 

‘So you think I’m handsome?’ the leer on his face suggested he’d forgotten his role. 

‘Don’t let it go to your head.’ 

‘Oh, trust me. I will.’ 

Keith lowered his lashes and smirked up at his unsuspecting victim, before he positioned his legs into something a little more solid and tugged Lance’s hands  _hard_ , spinning him and wrapping an arm around his back in order to dip him towards the floor. 

Lance looked up with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. 

‘Don’t fall for me too hard.’ 

A bright red colour blossomed and popped across Lance’s face, covering the tips of his ears. ‘You-you can’t-?!’ he spluttered. ‘Matthew should be the one to dip Mary, not the other way round!’ 

‘He should’ve done it quicker then.’ 

‘This is completely off rail! You’ve abandoned the script!’ 

‘There was no script.’ 

‘This is so  _not okay_  there are rules to these things!’ 

Keith’s eyes sparkled as he recalled Pidge referring to him as the “cute boy”. ‘Matthew’s got a chance at getting the kiss first if he hurries up at least.’ 

He saw Lance’s eyes drop down to his lips for a long moment. ‘Maybe we should’ve watched Tipping the Velvet.’ 

‘Why?’ 

‘Huh?’ blue eyes refocused and locked in on his again, before he leered and waggled his eyebrows. ‘The character I’d give you spends a fair chunk of time naked.’ 

Keith blanched. His brain stopped and he felt a rush of embarrassment, pride, and anger. He let go of the man in his arms and watched his back hit the floor before stepping over him and grabbing his snacks. 

‘I’m going to bed.’ 

‘Hey! What about that kiss?’ 

Keith smirked over his shoulder. ‘Should’ve thought about that before you opened your mouth.’ 

It didn’t take long for the mess of limbs to scramble off the floor and follow him through the makeshift apartment, leaving a mess all over the floor and coffee table. Keith inspected the bed that was provided, a loft bed that was made up well. He tossed his snacks up before he began to climb the ladder without even thinking of checking out the others. 

‘Out of  _all the places_ to sleep in here you decide you want the one with stairs.’ 

Keith stopped half way and swung back to face Lance. ‘Yeah?’ 

‘Are you not even going to test the others? See which is the nicest?’ 

‘I wasn’t planning on it.’ 

Lance threw his arms in the air. ‘Animal!’ 

‘We’re already here. Why would we pick a different one?’ 

‘Oho,  _we_ , huh?’ 

Keith fought down the blood rushing to his face. ‘I’m sure you’ll find a nicer one.’ 

‘Nope, I’m not allowing it; we’re having  _fun_ , remember? We’re going to test all the beds.’ 

‘It’s like two o’clock, dude. Do we have to?’ 

‘It’s only two o’clock. We have loads of time.’ 

Keith groaned but grabbed his snacks and hopped down, landing right in front of the taller man. ‘Alright, we’ll do it your way. Guide me, oh great fun-master.’ 

‘R-right. This way.’ 

Twelve beds. Not that he was complaining, it was fun. There was something charming about watching Lance bounce about, flopping and fidgeting and wiggling as he declared each bed not good enough for his sensitive nature. He seemed to have a permanent smile plastered to his face as he dragged Keith around by the wrist and explained why it had to be perfect. The mattress had to be right and the atmosphere of the room had to be right.  _Perfect_. 

‘You know that story of the Princess and the pea? That’s you.’ 

Lance snorted. ‘Prince, thank you.’ 

‘Royal pain in my ass more like.’ 

Lance flopped down on another bed, sighing as his head melted into the pillow and his eyes traced the slanted ceiling. ‘You know this one might be it. I’ve always wanted an attic room. You might have to go sleep on your own.’ 

Keith smirked and turned round, spreading his arms wide as he let himself fall back onto the bed. Lance let out a rather undignified shriek as Keith landed on top of him and became a deadweight, jamming various limbs and elbows into his spine. 

‘Keith get off me!’ 

‘Man this bed is a little lumpy.’ 

‘You’re ruining my dream room!’ 

He continued to ignore him. ‘At least the view’s pretty.’ 

‘You’re such a dick oh my fuck.’ 

Keith chuckled as Lance finally gave up and went limp. He lay diagonally across Lance’s body, one leg still hanging off the single bed and his head slotting between Lance’s shoulder and his face. He could feel heat radiating off the man underneath him, the rising and falling of his chest moving Keith in such a subtle way it would be easy to miss. 

He felt his stomach flip and his heart flutter as a tiny smile pulled at his cheeks. ‘That’s better.’ 

Lance snorted. ‘For you maybe.’ 

‘That’s the important bit.’ 

He felt wide spindly shoulders twitch as Lance moved his arms as if he was going to wrap them round Keith’s middle. They fell back against the bed. 

‘You can.’ 

‘Wh-what?’ 

Keith bit his lip and tilted his head to the side so he could see the startled look on Lance’s face. ‘You were going to do something, right? I don’t mind.’ 

Lance nodded before looking back to the ceiling. The tanned arms wrapped around his torso with all the softness that you’d use for a precious china plate. He let them settle there before he began to move his own arms that were spread across the bed, locking them on top of Lance’s and enjoying the way the man buried his face in Keith’s shoulder. 

The silence was deafening. He could hear his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. He was filled with something that made him want to curl his toes and squeeze on the forearms he was holding. 

‘Yeah okay,’ Lance’s voice was muffled by the fabric of Keith’s shirt. ‘This is pretty comfy I guess.’ 

Keith scoffed. ‘What happened to that confidence you had during Downton?’ 

‘Shut up,  _Keith_ ,’ he bit out the name. ‘I know it’s hard to believe but I’m not perfect all of the time.’ 

‘Not too hard to believe.’ 

He pulled back as if he was going to argue, but there was a flash of inspiration that dawned across his face. ‘ _Keith_.’ 

‘Lance.’ 

‘The fort.’ 

He raised a brow. ‘…Yes?’ 

‘We could sleep in the fort!’ 

It was actually a pretty good idea. ‘We could.’ 

‘Oh my goodness!’ Lance began to wriggle again. ‘Get off me we have to  _go_.’ 

He wasn’t about to argue with that one. 

The pair raced to the sofa area where the fort was still perfectly preserved, though he was surprised neither of them brought it down with the rush which they arrived at it with. He fell onto the mess of pillows and sheets, looking up at the makeshift tent above them as Lance collapsed next to him. 

He chuckled as the boy let out a satisfied groan, rolling onto his side and propping his head up on his arm. ‘Is that better?’ 

‘Perfect. Why didn’t we think of this first?’ 

‘You wanted to try  _all_ the beds.’ 

‘It’s true. I did.’ 

His breath caught in his throat as Lance turned to look at him, half his face still smushed against the cushions below. Keith cleared his throat and excused himself to turn off the light outside before he navigated the dark with his phone’s flashlight, settling back into the plush fort with Lance by his side. 

It all felt suddenly too intimate. Like there was an expectation hanging down and he didn’t quite know what to do with it. 

‘I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty tired,’ Lance’s voice flittered through the darkness once the flashlight was turned off. ‘Thanks for hanging out with me tonight.’ 

‘Not that I had much choice,’ he cursed under his breath. ‘I mean, I did, but-!’ 

‘I get you.’ 

He settled down. ‘Good. Thanks for hanging out with me too. It’s been fun.’ 

‘Even if I made you watch dumb period dramas?’ 

‘Even if you made me act out dumb period dramas.’ 

Lance sniggered from his spot. ‘Thanks,  _Mary_.’ 

The back of his throat dried up. The silence descended again. 

He heard Lance shifting and felt the drop of the cushions to indicate him getting closer. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see the attractive eyes looking at him, a curve to the tanned lips. 

He shut his eyes and tried not to think too hard about all the things he wanted to say and to do and have happen in that moment. 

It didn’t surprise him when a pair of soft lips met his own chapped ones. He angled his head and pressed forward, hand moving on its own accord to find the narrow waist in front of him. It was simple, but Keith liked simple. Fresh and simple and exactly perfect for that moment. An innocence that was captured in their fort in the middle of IKEA. 

‘Goodnight, Keith.’ 

‘Night.’ 

His voice cracked as he spoke, and before he knew it Lance had rolled over and was facing the line of soft toys that surrounded them. Keith sucked up all the courage he had and shuffled forward so he could bring the warmth of the other man close to him and wrap it up in his arms. 

It was perfect. 

* * *

Keith was good at waking up once he felt the presence of other people nearby. He began to stir as he usually would, though at first he credited it to the fact he was wrapped up close to Lance still. The memory of the night before shone in his sleep addled mind and had him snuggling closer to the warm body, not wanting the moment to end. 

‘ _Lance McClain_.’ 

The voice was full of an authority that had his eyes shooting open and scrambling away as if he’d been burnt. He pulled himself into a sitting position and looked at the entrance to the fort where a fierce lady with angelic white hair and tanned skin stood, her brows pulled down to cast her eyes in shadow. She briefly looked at him before gesturing at the still sleeping man. 

Keith shook Lance probably a little more forcefully than needed but he  _needed to wake the fuck up_. 

‘Wha…’ the boy rubbed his eyes and pushed up, focusing on the two looking at him. He stopped short at the sight of the woman. ‘Allura!’ 

‘Do you want to explain to me what you’re doing in the middle of my store at seven o’clock in the morning?’ she snapped. ‘And why you’ve decided to ruin my displays?’ 

‘Uh…’ he glanced towards Keith before clearing his throat. ‘Can I…opt out of the explanation?’ 

‘No. You can’t.’ 

‘Right. So, uh, I guess I kinda fell asleep last night while I took a nap in one of the displays, and when I woke up the store was closed.’ 

She pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Why on earth were you taking a  _nap_ in th-you know what, it doesn’t matter. Why didn’t you ring me?’ 

Keith raised a brow as he looked to Lance. It was a pretty good question. 

‘Well…’ Lance’s eyes found his for a moment before he blushed. ‘At first I was like wow what an opportunity, right? It’s like a  _dream_ to have free reign of this story. But then…uh…I mean I was planning on calling you at some point…and then…well, my phone ran out of battery cause we were watching Downton Abbey and I guess I was kind of having a lot of fun and,’ he gestured to Keith. ‘This is Keith.’ 

‘Of course. Anything for a pretty face, right?’ 

Lance made a sound that resembled a dying cat. 

‘Well, Keith, I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but perhaps that is best saved for different circumstances,’ her voice cut through the air. ‘I trust you won’t be against tidying up the mess you’ve both made, save my employees from doing it for you.’ 

‘Of course,’ Keith finally found his voice. ‘We’ll get right on that.’ 

‘Good. At least one of you has a brain.’ 

‘Hey, I have a brain!’ 

Her eyes narrowed. ‘It’s a shame you don’t  _use it then_.’ 

Lance clamped his mouth shut with a pout. 

‘Alright, both of you, sort this out. I’m going to get a coffee. It’s too bloody early in the morning for this.’ 

The pair watched her disappear before they began to disassemble the fort they’d slept in in silence. Keith took everything he’d found back on the trolley while Lance disappeared to go collect the Diam bars from the living room they’d been camping out in. 

Lance wasn’t in the sofa area when he returned. Keith tried not to feel too disappointed as he continued to the store to where he knew the exit was, wondering if he should go find the boy. Would that seem too desperate? It felt weird to just leave without saying anything. Or at least asking for his number. Or maybe this was one of those things of the magical experience and they should leave before Allura rained furious anger down around them. 

When he finally arrived at the store front, Lance was hovering near the entrance with Allura, looking a bit like a kicked puppy. She finished up whatever she was saying as she spotted Keith approaching and turned on her heel which clipped against the ground as she marched off. Whatever was happening there was thankfully not going to include him. 

‘You know the manager of the store then?’ 

Lance jumped a mile high and spun round. ‘Fuck! You startled me, asshole.’ 

‘Sorry.’ 

‘But yeah, I know Allura. Who is a manager. High up on the rung.’ 

Keith raised a brow. ‘Lucky you.’ 

‘Lucky  _us_ , it got us both out of trouble, right?’ 

That was true he supposed. 

‘Sorry I didn’t…’ Lance chewed on his lip and kicked against the floor. ‘I know you wanted to get out yesterday. And I kind of had the ticket to get out. And I didn’t share it.’ 

Keith tried to play it off with a casual shrug. ‘It’s fine. It was pretty fun.’ 

A beaming smile. ‘Really?’ 

‘Yeah, really.’ 

‘So, uh,’ Lance cleared his throat before stuffing his hands into his pockets. ‘I was wondering if maybe you’d wanna go get breakfast or something? There’s a McDonald’s just round the corner. I know it’s nothing fancy.’ 

Keith smiled wide and nodded. ‘I’d like that.’ 

‘Cool!’ Lance picked up his shoulders and grinned back. ‘Sweet, that’s great! Let’s go before Allura comes back and changes her mind on letting us off easy.’ 

He followed after the man as they stepped into the fresh early morning air and began to walk over to get food, elbows bumping against each other from standing so close. Lance spoke with his hands as they walked and his voice filled the silence around them. Keith laughed at the jokes he got, asking questions to try and keep the man talking, enjoying the other’s company first thing in the morning. 

When they arrived and finally sat down with food Lance insisted Keith let him borrow his phone to take a selfie of them both to send to Pidge, telling her about how Allura had busted them before they could get out clean and free. 

It was a shame when it finally came time to part ways and get back to the every day. Keith managed to score Lance’s number before they headed home, along with a goodbye kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it is one of the FUNNEST, so I don't mind <3 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


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